Pile lifter for a floor care machine



F. K. BAYLESS ETAL 3,516,107

run 1.1mm FOR A moon GARE momma l Filed Jan. :51, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 5 mm mw m 0 a: Tw tt w b N E 3 w V Kom mam; 2 A 5 R 2 H H T June 23, 1970 F. K. BAYLESS ETAL 3,516,107

FILE LIFTER FOR A FLOOR CARE MACHINE Filed Jan. 31, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS J 0 M55 fialaszsonl Fem/K 1(- zinnsss En vmouo 36500192155 5. ERIK OIIL soN /54/% mm mm United States Patent PILE lLlFTER FOR A FLOOR CARE MACHINE Frank K. Bayless, Darien, Conn., Raymond Descarries,

Montreal, Quebec, Canada, B. Erik Ohlson, Stamford,

Conn, and James Anderson, Bale dUrfe, Quebec,

Canada, assignors to Electrolux Corporation, Old

Greenwich, Comm, a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 31, 1968, Ser. No. 701,911 Int. Cl. A411 13/00 U.S. Cl. l-246 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pile lifter which is attached to a floor care machine in place of the rug shampoo brushes for lifting the matted pile of a rug. The mounting disc of the pile lifter is rotated by the floor care machine and a plurality of wheels having a number of radially projecting resilient pegs, which are in engagement with the matted pile, are rotated about a radial axis of the mounting disc thereby agitating the matted rug so that the pile resumes its normal upstanding position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION When a rug is shampooed with a rotary brush floor care machine the pile of the rug is left matted and remains matted even when the rug has dried. The matted condition of the rug also prolongs the time necessary for the rug to dry. Heretofore matted pile has been lifted by going over the rug with rake-like device U.S. Pat. No. 3,065,491, or a vacuum cleaner power nozzle such as disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,266,078. However, lifting the pile of a damp rug with a power nozzle is not completely satisfactory because the rotating brush of the power nozzle itself leaves matted areas. Manually raking the rug could be performed while the rug is damp to facilitate drying but this method of lifting the nap or pile is laborious and time consuming.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The pile lifter according to this invention comprises a backing member adapted to fit on the brush driving spindle of a rug scrubbing machine, for example such as disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 647,378 filed June 20, 1967 or in US. Pat. 3,046,586 or 3,121,896. The backing member rotates in a plane parallel with the rug and carries one or more pile lifting rollers which engage the rug and rotate freely about a radial axis of the backing member. The pile lifting rollers may take several forms as disclosed in detail hereinafter, but the presently preferred pile lifting roller consists of a series of coaxial, independent Wheels having radial pegs or fingers or resilient synthetic resin material. The axis of rotation of the backing member is normal to the rug surface, and the axis of rotation of each individual pegged wheel is parallel to the rug surface, so that each wheel of a pile lifting roller turns at a diiferent speed due to the different distances from the axis of rotation of the backing member. As a result the adjacent pegged wheels of each roller, each of which is rotating at a different speed, agitates the matted pile by virtue of a scissor action" and the pile is lifted to a vertical position by the rising pegs of the wheels. Also due to the disposition of the axes of rotation of the backing member and the individual pegged wheels, each peg, while in engagement with rug, has a scuffing motion which also contributes to the pile agitating action.

An object of this invention therefore is to provide a pile lifting attachment for a rotary brush rug scrubbing machine.

A further object of this invention is to provide a pile lifter for a rotary brush floor care machine having a backing member rotated about an axis normal to the surface of a rug to be treated and carrying at least one rug engaging pile lifting roller attached to the backing member and in which the pile lifting roller is rotatable about an axis that is substantially normal to axis of rotation of the backing member.

Another object of this invention is to provide a pile lifting attachment for a rotary brush rug scrubbing machine in place of a rug scrubbing brush normally associated with such machines.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a pile lifting attachment for a rug scrubbing machine having a plurality of pile lifting rollers in which each said roller is provided with separately rotatable wheels each of which has a number of radial projecting resilient pegs or fingers for engaging a rug to be treated.

The foregoing object and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description of this inven tion given in connection with the attached drawing showing embodiments of the invention as presently conceived.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a presently preferred pile lifter attachment for a floor care machine according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a modified form of a pile lifter attachment according to FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of another modified form of a pile lifter attachment according to the invention and similar to the pile lifter illustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a view of a second embodiment of a pile lifting roller of an attachment such as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 5 is a view of a third embodiment of a pile lifting roller of an attachment for a floor care machine according to the invention.

FIG. 6 is a view of a further embodiment of a pile lifting roller.

FIG. 7 is a view of a modified wheel for a pile lifting roller according to FIGS. l-3.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a pile lifting wheel according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIGS. 1 to 3 a single pile lifter attachment generally designated 10, for a floor care machine having one, two or three rotating brushes is shown. Three identical attachments to that shown in FIG. 1 would be required for a three brush machine, and a single large attachment (larger than shown in FIG. 1) would be required for a one brush machine. The pile lifter 10 comprises a backing member 11 which is provided with any suitable known means for attaching the backing member to the brush spindle of a rotary brush floor care machine. In FIG. 2 a hub 12, projecting from the under side of the backing member 11 is for attaching the backing member 11 to the spindle of a fioor care machine (not shown). Details of the hub 12 and its connection to the spindle of a floor care machine is shown in copending application Ser. No. 647,378. However, as indicated above, the hub 12 will de identical to whatever arrangement is used on the shampoo brushes for holding them on the driving spindles of the rug scrubbing machine. Thus, a backing member rotates in a horizontal plane about a vertical axis.

Each backing member 11 for a floor care machine is provided with either a depending cylindrical wall 13 (FIG. 1) or a plurality of lugs 14, shown in phantom lines in FIG. 1 and in full lines in FIG. 2, which depend from the backing member in a plane substantially normal thereto. The pile lifting rollers, generally designated 15, rotate about a horizontal axis which is substantially normal to the axis of rotation of the backing member 11. A three roller attachment is shown in FIG. 1 having a shaft 16 for each roller 15. Each shaft 16 is attached to the outer circular wall 13, or lugs 14, in any known manner, at one end. The other end of each shaft 16 is connected to a central cylindrical wall portion 17 which is in spaced parallel relation with the peripheral Wall 13. Each roller 15 may consist of a number of separate wheels 20, a brush as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 or cylinder according to FIG. 4 which are described in greater detail hereafter.

In FIG. 1 the shafts 16 are 120 apart and each shaft is radial with respect to the inner and outer walls 13 and 17. However, the shafts 16 may be skewed slightly from the radial plane for special applications where strong agitation is desired as explained more fully hereinafter.

As shown in FIG. 2 the pile lifter attachment may also comprise only two rollers 15 separated by means of a spacer 18 both of which are mounted on a single shaft 16a which is diametrically disposed between a pair of peripherally located lugs 14. As shown in FIG. 3 a shaft 16b supporting a pair of rollers 15 may be bent slightly at 18 to place the rollers 15 in an offset or skewed position relative to one another and the backing member. The angle a of the bend 18 in shaft 16b should be very small since the pile lifting agitation of the rollers may become violent or extreme and therefore undesirable. The modification according to FIG. 3 requires a bracket 19' for spacing the rollers 15.

The cylindrical walls 13 and 17 (FIG. 1) are attached to the backing member 11 in any suitable manner i.e. made integral or provided with a flange which is bolted, welded, or glued to the backing member.

The rollers 15 may take various forms depending on the degree of agitation required for a given type of rug pile construction. The rollers 15, comprising a series of separate pegged wheels, 20 as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, are of general utility and are presently preferred.

In FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the rollers 15 comprise a series of separate wheels 20 having a number of fingers or pegs 21 radially projecting therefrom and equi-angularly spaced about the periphery of the wheels 20.

A complete roller 15 is illustrated only in FIG. 3 for simplifying the drawing. It will be understood however, that each roller 15 of FIGS. 1 and 3 is identical to the complete roller shown in FIG. 2. Each wheel 20 is journaled on a shaft 16 (16a or 16b in FIGS. 2 and 3) and the shaft is connected to the walls 13, 17 (FIG. 1) or lugs 14 (FIGS. 1, 2, 3) in any known suitable manner. The pegs 21 are preferably molded integral with the wheels 20 and are shaped and dimensioned for a degree of flexibility without collapsing under the weight of the rug scrubbing machine when the rollers are in use. The wheels 20 and pegs 21 may be of any suitable synthetic material such as polyethylene characterized by wear resistance, flexibility and a smooth surface. As indicated in FIG. 7, the pegs 21a may be positioned at an axial angle with respect to the radius of the associated wheel 20a.

A further embodiment of a pile lifting wheel is shown in FIG. 8 wherein the pegs 21b are placed at a tangential angle with the associated wheel 20b.

The roller 15 shown in FIG. 4 consists of a solid cylindrical body 25 having a plurality of flexible fingers or pegs 26 similar to those shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 inclusive or brush bristle tufts (FIGS. 5 and 6). The solid cylindrical roller according to FIG. 4 having pegs 26 was found to possess a strong agitation characteristic which is not generally desired but may be useful where strong agitation is necessary. However this embodiment 4 of a roller according to the invention does not have the general utility of the multi-wheel rollers seen in FIGS. 1 to 3.

The roller illustrated in FIG. 5 comprises a cylindrical body 28 having a driving wheel 29 and a series of brush bristle tufts 30 spaced about the periphery of the body 28 in a helical row. The body 28 is rotatably mounted on a shaft 16 and the bristled portion is rotated by the pegged driving wheel 29 which is rigidly connected with the cylindrical body 28. The bristles may be rotated at a greater velocity than they would roll on the rug if the driving wheel 29 is at the outer end of the roller. In use the driving wheel 29 is located either at the outer periphery of the backing member on which it is mounted or adjacent to the axis of rotation of the backing member.

In the latter arrangement the bristles drag on the rug being treated, thereby only mildly agitating the matted pile. However, the first mentioned arrangement, wherein the brush is driven at a speed greater than it would if freely rolling on the rug, is preferred because the bristle tufts have a lifting action on the matted pile as the bristles move upwardly relative to the rug.

In FIG. 6 a pile lifting roller 15 is shown in which a solid frusto-conical body 35, journaled in an opening in the backing member 11a, is provided with a plurality of bristle tufts 36 of unequal length which may be distributed helically or randomly about the periphery of the body 35. The driving wheel 29 (which may be conventional or pegged as shown) of this modification engages the rug to be treated for driving the body of bristles. The arrangement according to FIG. 6 due to the shape of body 35, length of the bristle tufts 36 and diameter of the driving wheel 29 causes the bristles to increase the lifting action of this embodiment over the embodiment of FIG. 5. It will be apparent also from FIG. 6 that the driving wheel 29 may be placed at the base of the conical body 35 and the body 35 reversed with respect to the axis of rotation of the backing member 11a.

The foregoing description is given by way of example of the various forms of a pile lifter as presently contemplated and is not intended to limit the scope of the subjoined claims to the details disclosed.

What is claimed is:

1. A pile lifter accessory for a rotary brush floor care machine having at least one driving spindle; said pile lifter comprising a backing member, means connected with said backing member for removably connecting said backing member on the spindle of said machine, pile lifting means including substantially radially extending pegs and means connected with said backing member for rotatably attaching said pile lifting means on said backing member; said backing member being rotatable about an axis substantially normal to the surface to be treated, and said pile lifting means engaging said surface for rotation about an axis substantially at a right angle with said first mentioned axis.

2. A pile lifter according to claim 1 wherein said pile lifting means comprises a cylindrical roller body having a plurality of said substantially radially extending pegs for engaging said surface.

3. A nap lifter according to claim 1 wherein said pile lifting means comprises a roller body having a plurality of discrete wheel members, each said wheel member having a plurality of said substantially radially extending pegs for engaging said surface.

4. A pile lifter according to claim 3 wherein said radially extending pegs of said wheel members are offset with respect to the radius of said wheel.

5. A pile lifter according to claim 1 wherein said pile lifting means comprises a brush body having radially extending bristle tufts projecting therefrom, and a driving wheel including said pegs connected with said body at one axial end thereof for rotating said brush body; both said driving wheel and said bristle tufts engaging the surface to be treated.

6. A pile lifter according to claim 5 wherein said brush body is generally frusto-conical configured and said bristle tufts extend substantially equal distances radially therefrom.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,396,861 3/1946 Linderoth 15-41 2,679,084

6 3,080,637 3/1963 Dutt 15187 X 3,365,772 1/1968 Collins 15-93 X FOREIGN PATENTS 710,507 6/1931 France.

WALTER A. SCHEEL, Primary Examiner L. G. MACHLIN, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.

5/1954 Heitt 26-31 10 26-31;l5--4 

